Plumbers and like tradesmen often have the need to couple shafts or tubular members by means of threaded coupling connectors or other such joining devices which are adapted to receive threaded male ends into receptive threaded female mating ends within the coupling connectors or such joining devices. However, when such tradesmen are working on the job-site and have to custom fit members such as metal pipes or rods, it is most convenient to cut such members to the desired size as the member is being fitted and then to continue on with the job without having to remove the cut member for threading by prior art devices at a remote location.
Presently Applicant is aware of a standard thread chaser which comprises a threaded nut that is forced onto the unthreaded end of a cut tubular member by rotating the nut onto the end of the tubular member. This method has been found to be slow and generally unsatisfactory in light of the present invention, the embodiment of which disclosed herein having the object of providing an adjustable clamping device for clamping over the end of a shaft, pipe, rod or like member so as to clamp the end of the member between thread cutting blades and opposed support rollers, the adjustable clamp being adjustable to force the rollers against a first side of the member opposed to the side against which the thread cutting blades are brought to bear.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device in which the thread cutting blades are interchangeable with other thread cutting blades shaped to conformally fit around the circumference of different diameter shaft, pipe or rod members (hereinafter "shaft member" or "shaft" refer generically to shafts, rods, pipes, tubes and the like) and wherein the thread cutting blades are supported by a bracket mounted to the clamp and supported so as to bear against portions of the shaft member in a circumference around the surface of the shaft member.
Applicant is aware of a device for cleaning the threads of bolts manufactured by Noga Engineering Ltd. and marketed under the trade-mark Nes1. The Nes1 has a bolt supporting arm and adjustable jaws from which depend a pair of blades such that when the jaws are adjusted so as to tighten the blades down onto the threads of a bolt held on the supporting arm, rotating the Nes1 relative to the bolt drags the blade tips through the thread furrows thereby cleaning the threads of the bolt. What is not taught nor suggested in the Nes1 device is positioning cutting blades around the circumference of an unthreaded shaft member so as to thereby securely support an unthreaded shaft member between the circumferentially spaced cutting blades thus allowing cutting of threads into the shaft member rotationally supported within the clamping device.